December 29, 2023
Dear Molly,
I am so sorry I was unable to respond to your lovely Yule letter! It sounds like the kids and grands are going strong and making you and Doug so proud!
I’m not sure if Lori told you, but she had this amazing invitation for a ski trip to Vail for the holidays, and since she had been working so hard finishing her master’s, she didn’t know how to say no and feel ok about it. She asked Tom and me if we could watch Daisy for the time she’d be away, but she didn’t want to inconvenience us. Well, our grand-dog is always welcome here, particularly ‘cause Tom can get a bigger ‘dog-fix’ than if they just visit for a few hours. He promised adamantly to walk her four times a day, so the deal was settled. And we promised to inform her immediately if there were any problems. That was a small fib.
Tom’s sister, Joan had called, asking if she could visit for the holidays. This was the first Christmas since Bob had died, and she didn’t want to be alone. Well, since we now had an extra bedroom with Lori off skiing, it just seemed like a family thing to do.
Joan arrived with two very large suitcases. At first, I thought she meant to stay for a month, but peeking out from behind her legs was the cutest little Yorkie I had ever seen. Bob’s niece, Sarah, had given Pepper (the dog) to Joan to keep her company after Bob passed. And they, Joan and Pepper, seemed to be inseparable. I think it was a wonderful gesture, but wish we’d known Pepper was coming, too. Daisy is part Doberman and part Lab, so she can be a bit passive-aggressive at times, and we didn’t know what would happen if there were another dog in the house.
Well, they hit it off like they’d been waiting for each other all their lives! Daisy’s head was almost bigger than Pepper’s whole body, but she was so gentle with Pepper that Tom said it was a match made in doggy heaven!
We’d had the foresight to hang all the ornaments on the tree well above Daisy’s level. Her back end is the Dobe part, and her tail moves like a helicopter blade. She can clear the coffee table with one wag! So we took adequate precautions! And the two of them were just fast friends, sleeping, playing, and even eating together.
Christmas Day came, and we three gathered in the living room for the Big Plan. Tom’s football always seems to take precedence, so we just let him be, and Joan and I set about getting the dinner together. Since there were only the three of us, I’d decided a chicken would be easier than a turkey. I just can’t seem to find turkeys less than 15 pounds at the market, no matter how hard I look. And it doesn’t feel like Christmas unless there’s a whole bird on the table.
We rounded the menu out with sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans with those little onion rings, rolls, and pie. The dogs were sleeping on the sofa, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if Tom was napping in the recliner. Joan and I worked as a team, pulling all of that feast together in that small kitchen. I always swore we’d remodel that part of the house, but we just had never gotten to it. Anyways, I pulled the chicken out of the oven to let it rest, and Joan started making the gravy – pan juices, giblets, and stir, stir, stir.
The table had been set, and I had gotten out the special Christmas plates. They seemed so unimportant to have when we were first married, but now they’ve become a tradition for us. Regardless of how many are around the table.
Just as I was sitting the chicken on the table and calling Tom, there was a ruckus in the living room. And a crash. Tom said the dogs had awakened and were playing on the floor, and Pepper had run under the tree. Daisy got excited and bounced too hard, and somehow the tree fell over. Joan screamed, “PEPPER!!” And we all ran into the living room. The dogs beat a hasty retreat to the back of the house, and we were faced with a huge bunch of ornaments, as well as some from our first years of marriage, scattered all over the rug. Just as we started to pick up the pieces, Joan remembered the gravy, and ran to the kitchen to keep it from sticking.
She hollered again, and Tom and I ran to the kitchen. Daisy and Pepper were sharing their Christmas dinner right near the back door, one of them having pilfered the chicken off the platter on the table. Joan started to cry, and stopped stirring the gravy. I hipped her out of the way, hoping at least we could have gravy on our dressing and mashed potatoes. Oh, sis, the green beans were slightly blackened in the oven and those wonderful onion rings were charcoal. The rolls were even more burnt.
All was not lost! There were some vegetables and gravy for dinner. And we did have fabulous pecan pie. (At least we had pie.)
And I didn’t tell Lori until she came home. We did invite Joan AND Pepper back for next year. Tom’s gonna nail the tree to the floor.
Hope to see you soon! Happy New Year!!
Much love,
Kathy
INSTANT NOODLES 